Swimming jacket



April 15, 1930. A. TUBIOLO 1,754,342

SWIMMING JACKET Filed Aug. 1'7, 192s mam Wot .422 zizonyfabiolo Patented Apr. 15, 1930 rarest rricE' ANTHONY TUBIOLO, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO SWIMMING JACKET Application filed August 17, 1928. Serial No. 300,323.

This invention relates to an improved garment adapted. particularly to be worn by swimmers and embodying inflatable features of construction by means of which the garment when inuse will serve to assist in supporting the user in a swimming position in the water. i

It is an object of the invention to provide an inflatable swimming acket which may be readily applied to the bodyof the swimmer or other user and wherein the 'acket is of such construction as to provide or free and unobstructed bodily movement on the part of the user so that the jacket when worn will not appreciably interfere with the progress of the user in swimming, or moving by swims ming strokes through the water.

I am aware of the fact that inflatable garments have been employed in effecting the 2 buoyant support of the user in a body of water. Such garments have, however, been designed chiefly for use as life preservers and are of and possess such proportions and construction that when they are properly in flated they provide such an enlarged, awkward or bulky garments that they are of lit tle or no use as an agency in enablingthe user to proceed through the water by resort to swimming strokes.

It is therefore the primary purpose of the present invention to provide an inflatable garment having certain novel featm'es of construction, which produces what I term a swimming jacket, in contrast to a life preserver, and which may be readily worn by the user to facilitate swimming and yet to render that aquatic sport free from accident or disaster.

For a further understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the following descripton and the accompanying drawing, wherein: I

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the swiming acket comprising the present invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the garment on the plane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View taken through the garment,

Figure 4'. is a detailed perspective View showing the various layers of material from which the body of the jacket or garment is formed,

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken through the strap fastener of the jacket.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates my improved swimming jacket in its entirety. The jacket is adapted, when in use, to be worn over an ordinary swimming suit and possesses the outlines or configuration of a waistcoat so as to closely embrace the body of the user. The garment is formed from a suitable wa tar-proof material and also one which is capable of retaining air or other gaswithout undue loss or seepage for a desired length of time. In this connection I may employ soft flexible rubber sheets or a cloth impregnated with rubber or incertain instances I may employ a fabric such as duck backed with an inner layer or body of rubber. Other materials may, of course, be employed, the essential feature being that the garment will be flexible so that it is capable'of closelyconforming with the body of the wearer and at the same time will serve to inclose or confine within the same arequired quantity of air or other gas for the purpose of securing a requisite degree of buoyancy.

In this instance the jacket comprises a body consisting of an inner sheet2, a corrugated intermediate sheet 3 and a correspondingly corrugated orfluted outer layer or sheet 4, the sheets 2, 3 and i being formed from any one of the materials or combinations of the materials mentioned above. These flexible sheets or layers are suitably secured together by stitchin or the like as indicated at 5 so as to produce a jacket provided with arm holes 6, an open front and a waist band 7. i The separable front edges 8 of the jacket are reinforced as at 9 to permit of the formation of buttonholes 10 which are adapted for the reception of the buttons or other fasteners 11 located on the opposite complemental edge 8, the buttons permitting the garment to be securely and firmly applied to the wearer. The waist band terminated at one side in a fastening strap 12, which is adapted to be connected with a buckle 13 applied on the other side of the waist. The strap and buckle construction is provided as a means of additional securit over the buttons 11 for the purpose of retaining the jacket in place.

The inner and outer layers 2 and a are separated by the intermediate sheet or layer 3 producing within the garment an air receiving compartment 14. Air maybe blown into this compartment by means of the valve tube 15, arranged on the inner side of the garment as shown in Figure 1 so that it will not be in the way when the garment is applied. The intermediate sheet is provided with perforations 16 so as to allow air to circulate freely throughout all sections of the compartment or compartments 14. The intermediate sheet serves to strengthen materially the construction of the jacket and prevents the body of the jacket from assuming, as has been the case in previous constructions, bulky, objectionably protruding condition, which would interfere with the activities of the swimmer. It will be understood that the meeting portions of the intermediate sheet 3 with the adjacent surfaces of the inner and outer sheets 2 and 4 may be either vulcanized together or stitched or sewed, as may be desired and depending upon the characteristics of the material used in forming said layers or sheets. I also found thatby'fluting or corrugating the outer sheet, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, that the garment offers diminished resistance to the free movement of the swimmer while progrossing through abody of water. The customary flexible garment of this type tends to maintain the user in an upright position in a body of water, whereas I have fashioned the present garment so that the user may occupy the customary horizontal position employed by most swimmers when engaged in swimmmg operations.

In view of the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a swimming jacket which will closely fit the body of the wearer and which will be so constructed that when inflated it will retain an outline or configuration by which the jacket will not interfere, to any great extent, with the normal swimming movements of the user. The device not only aids the swimmer but finds a great field of usefulness in diminishing loss of life due to drownings and related causes. The garment may be quickly applied or removed and possesses a substantial and durable construction well adapted for the strenuous services to which it is placed.

While, I have described and illustrated what I consider to be the preferred form of the invention, nevertheless it will be understood that various changes may be made from time to time by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention as the latter has been set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed 1. An inflatable swimming jacket comprising a flexible body formed to include inner, intermediate and outer layers of material said layers being connected together to produce an air receiving chamber within said jacket, the intermediate layer serving to limit relative expansion between the inner and outer layers, and means admitting of the detachable securing of said jacket to the wearer.

2. A swimming jacket comprising abody composed of flexible water-proof material, said body being formed to include inner, outer and intermediate layers of material, said layers being connected together to produce an air receiving compartment within said jacket, said intermediate layer being provided wtih perforations and so arranged as to limit relative movement between said inner and outer layers, and means for fastening said jacket in a coat-like manner around the body of the wearer.

3. A swimming jacket of the character set forth comprising a body of flexible material, said body being formed to include spaced inner and outer layers of water-proof air re taining character, a perforate intermediate layer of material aranged between said inner and outer layers and serving to govern relative movement betwen said inner and outer layers, the outer layer of said body being vertically corrugated or fluted to diminish water resistance against said jacket when the latter is worn inflated, and a valve for introducing an inflating gas into said 1' acketcarried by the inner layer of the jacket forming material and adapted to'be concealed from view when the jacket is applied.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ANTHONY TUBIOLO, 

